Emotional Eating Stops Here: 3 Tips You Should Know

Whether due to anxiety, stress, anger, sadness, or one of any number of other emotions,emotional eating is a problem for countless people. It affects physical and mental health alike and for that reason, it’s important to address the issue as soon as it appears.

Emotional eating isn’t something you necessarily choose, either. It is onset by hormonal responses in the body, prompting you to seek comfort and relief in unhealthy food. Temporary stress isn’t a problem, but ongoing stress or other negative emotions can cause persistent, pervasive eating habits that turn destructive.

Though the response to stress and other emotions are hormonal, it doesn’t mean that you can’t control emotional eating. In this article, we’ll discuss three tips that will help you get back in control of your eating, regardless of what happens in your life.

WHAT IS EMOTIONAL EATING?

Emotional eating means turning to food, whether consciously or unconsciously, for comfort during times of emotional stress. However, it isn’t the same as treating yourself to ice cream or your favorite dessert after a long, stressful week. Emotional eating is pervasive, leading you to eat until you’re so full you’re uncomfortable.

Emotional eating becomes a problem when it becomes a habit. This means you’ll turn to food for comfort on a regular basis, even when you aren’t hungry. But emotional eating isn’t due to a lack of self-control. Emotional eaters often view food as a reward and motivation to overcome a stressful week or other emotional situation in life.

Although it is difficult to break any habit, especially one involving food as a coping mechanism, it’s possible.

COMMON SYMPTOMS OF EMOTIONAL EATING

There’s a fine line between using food for comfort on occasion and emotional eating. Recognizing the signs of emotional eating is the first step you can use to better understand whether you have a problem.

Some of the most common signs of emotional eating include:

Eating in response to stress.

Eating when you don’t feel physically hungry, or after you have completed a meal and are full.

Eating to improve your mood or feelings.

Eating as a reward for a certain behavior.

Eating until you are uncomfortable.

Eating to gain a feeling of safety.

Eating because you can’t control yourself around food.

It’s important to distinguish emotional eating from binge eating because the two share some qualities. Unlike emotional eating, binge eating is a condition in which you consume a large amount of food in a short amount of time and have no control over the situation.

There are several reasons why food serves as a source of comfort during conflicts, times of stress, fatigue, health problems, or other common stressors. Over time, you may turn to food instead of confronting the emotions themselves.

Unfortunately, the emotions will return after you eat and you will only feel worse because emotional eating commonly leads to weight gain.

HOW TO PUT AN END TO EMOTIONAL EATING: 3 SIMPLE TIPS

Food is comforting for several reasons. From a biological perspective, cortisol spikes during stressful times, driving you to consume carbohydrates, sugar, and foods that are high in fat. By consuming these foods, you’ll trigger physiological responses that make you “feel good,” increase alertness, and boost excitement.

On a more basic level, food is a distraction, is entertaining, and is more convenient than tackling the source of your negative emotions. Even in consideration of the biology and psychology of the situation, there are steps you can take to overcome emotional eating.

Focus on the Issues – Emotional eating offers a distraction and temporary sense of relief from a challenging situation or event in your life. Instead of turning to food as a crutch, consider how you’re feeling or what you need to feel better not now, but from a long-term perspective. By thinking of the future, you’ll avoid food and instead, focus on resolving your negative emotions.

Train Yourself in Mindfulness – It can be difficult to be mindful, especially when it’s much easier to reach for food when you’re feeling down or upset. However, doing so allows you to consider your thoughts and feelings from a distance rather than allowing yourself to get caught up in a situation. You should focus on learning how to reduce stress and understand how to recognize physical hunger. Doing so will allow you to identify your feelings, accept any negative emotions you’re experiencing, and identify solutions that don’t involve food.

Be Compassionate to Yourself – According to Minh-Hai Alex, a registered dietitian and founder of Mindful Nutrition self-compassion can decrease eating onset by stress. “When you’re a kind, understanding friend to yourself, it’s easier to resist the urge to try to disconnect through stress eating.” You should never beat yourself up if you eat due to your emotions as doing so only encourages the same behavior in the future. By reducing feelings of failure, you can reinforce your mindfulness training, focus on the issues, and end emotional eating both now and in the future.

FOCUS ON HEALTHY HABITS TO OVERCOME EMOTIONAL EATING FOR GOOD

You’re going to experience stress, frustration, anger, grief, anxiety, sadness, and other emotions in your life. How you respond is up to you.
By using the tips above and preparing or purchasing healthier foods to consume as you work to decrease emotional eating, you can prevent weight gain and other issues that can make it more difficult to focus on long-term happiness. And, by maintaining healthy habits beginning now (i.e. getting enough sleep, exercising, etc.), you can end emotional eating and set yourself up for emotional, mental, and physical health in the future.